Looking for video cameras to see how my dad is doing when I can't reach him by phone. Has anyone done this?

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Looking for video cameras to see how my dad is doing when I can't reach him by phone. Has anyone done this?

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Yes, I used abut 4 Wyze cameras (bought from Amazon) one in each room, and also gave her an Amazon Echo device which I can use to "drop in" without her trying to figure out how to answer the call, so I could do video calls with her. I liked the Wyze cameras because they can pan --you can move them remotely from an app on your phone. Fixed cameras are really not helpful. You need to be able to pan the room and / or zoom in, so get one that pans. (A lot of the popular ones like Blink may not have that feature--so check).
You can also use it to talk remotely through the speaker, though the quality is not that good.
Also there is a setting to record just on movement so you don't want to record the whole time. I had them in every room except bathroom (privacy for caregivers). It did ease my mind a lot.

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Ring is a great one. My sister uses it for her husband and loves it!!. Also google “top best video monitors for seniors” and see # and read reviews. Good luck.

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Yes, I installed a Ring Camera in my mom's apartment.

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My parents passed before these were available, but I think most folks I know with older parents living in their own home, are all using these cameras. Most (cognizant) ) parents appreciate them and they have definitely been life-savers for a few. These seem even more useful than the wearable buttons, which seem to frequently get set aside, misplaced, rejected, etc.

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Oh absolutely. I was a care manager of my friends' parents for 7 years, the last 4 I lived with them. They are a must. I found out the hard way after the Mrs.' jewelry had been stolen by 'trusted' caregivers. Err. Still irks me I didn't do it sooner. Anyway, I had one in the bedroom, kitchen, and living rooms - that's where they were 99% of the time. I left them in plain sight of everyone and made it clear that I did review them and would take action as necessary (and I did). I especially watched these when I hired someone new. How surprising it is that many didn't take me seriously - one even turned the camera around so it wasn't recording anything. I saw theft, abusive and neglect. Get them. They are invaluable.

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We have not yet but are thinking about it for MIL . She insists on staying in her house pretty close by but she doesn’t remember anything has constant complaints and just plain makes stuff up to get angry about. She was never a nice person to begging with but all her care etc falls to my husband and he comes home angry because she is such a piece of work. We have ring cameras at home , you pay a small fee for the service , get notification in your phone if there is activity and can review cameras at any time .They can be solar powered too.

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Yes, a definite with the camera..We had Momentum in my parents home..I could check on my parents & their interaction with evening caregivers..When Dad passed, Mom went to MC. Again, Momentum was a God-send..I could see if rounds were being made, if someone was curt with Mom or if she needed help transferring to wheelchair, meals, falls, etc

Most aides, CNA’s, etc, were great..Some “bad apples” came into the picture..Myself & other family members had those issue addressed.

Prayers to you & your family. We know it’s tough. Remember, you’re a Blessing to Dad.🙏🏻

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I am amazed at how many of you have cameras. I live in Canada and it is not allowed for a camera to be installed anywhere in the patience room or in hallways.
Also the hospital does not allow cameras either. I often wonder why and want to ask this question but whom would I ask?

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Here in the states - If it was a STATE regulation, I would reach out to my state representative. If it was a NATIONAL issue, I’d reach out to my US representative.

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Absolutely ! I’ve used BluRams and Yi from Amazon and both manufacturers are great, offer 24/7 continuous recording (to an SD card or cloud service), have 2 way talk and an alarm button, on top of the usual indoor camera features. With their cloud service you are also able to call for help directly from the app if anything appears out of the norm. Ive had no problems checking in on my mom, saving clips, or reviewing footage. The only downside is trying to talk to her through the 2 way feature because she is hard of hearing. But as long as I can check in and see she’s ok, I can figure out a work around to get in touch with her if she’s not answering her phone.

the selling point for me was the continuous 24/7 recording. Most cameras like blink or wyze can only record clips to whatever time frame is allowed. I believe it’s usually anywhere between 30 to 60 seconds per clip. Having 24/7 recording makes it easier to review past footage if I cannot check in or miss notifications for whatever reasons. I also like that they are Pan to Zoom. Most cameras don’t let you pan around their surroundings, but these will let you reposition from the app if you need to pan out for whatever reason.

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Yes. We installed a ring camera at the front door when my dad began wandering down the street. Then we installed one in the living room that also shows the dining room because of his frequent falls. My father is 97 years old and hasn’t been able to use a phone for about 4 years. These cameras have been a godsend. We got them from Amazon. We bought the Riolink and are very satisfied.

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Hi I use night owl cameras to keep an eye on my mom when I’m not there. They work great! I can hear her and even talk to her if I want although I never do as she would get confused. I put them up on my own not easy but I did it. They connect to my cell phone. Highly recommend them for piece of mind.

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SmartPss app is free online download. All you need is someone to install the cameras.

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Yes. We have a Blink camera in the living room which also faces the kitchen. At first I was checking it constantly and talking to my (94 yr old) Dad, and I was pretty nervous. Now, I check it occasionally and since he now has an aide (who is also aware of the camera), I settled down a bit. Check it occasionally and he’s doing great.

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Was a life saver for me..my Mother was alone at night and I could check to see what was going on. One night she was on the floor! She did not know to press Life Alert. I got EMS right away. Also allowed me to see how she and the aides were doing...they all knew I had cameras....one in bedroom and one in living room. I could talk to her through them as well...have her hold up things for me to see etc. I had Arlo..they work quite well. She has passed but I still have the apartment and can check on things when I am away. Provides peace of mind..not expensive.

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We have 3 Echo Shows which act both as cameras and as video chat devices so we can “drop in” on my mom and have a fact to face conversation with her. We also have a motion sensor camera over her medicine table which gives us a clear view of both her medications to make sure she is taking them and her daybed/table area where she spends most of her time. This enabled us to have her home on her own and then with someone coming in 3x a week for 4hrs while one of us would get her up to take her pills, check to make sure she was doing the things she needed to or dropping in to give her ques throughout the day and then doing pills at night with her. She now has someone there 5 days a week 8 hrs a day and my brother lives there but we still use the Echos and the camera all the time. We also have a motion sensor camera over the parking/garage area that comes in handy because she never hears or answers a knock at the door or the Ring doorbell (just as well).

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Yes, we have used Blink and Ring. I kept the exterior cameras up but took the interior ones down because I was concerned about privacy issues not from my parent but from their caregivers, visitors, etc.

We did put up a sign warning that you would be monitored but in the end decided I don’t want or need any legal issues.

They were very useful while we had them. We also have two Echo Shows but mom keeps unplugging them.

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I have Xfinity security and placed cameras all over the home (and outside). Pretty reasonable but I did have to spring for double the cameras to see everywhere Mom hangs out. I can watch from my phone, tablet, or laptop to make sure she is okay, her p/t respite caregivers are treating her well, and that she is safe. I get text alarms when a threshold is breached after the system is armed too. Highly recommend. It works like the Ring type of systems.

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Absolutely! A necessity for us. We currently use a Mobi HDX baby camera. We have a caregiver 4 hours a day but this has given us additional freedom and peace of mind to run out locally for a bite to eat or to run errands.

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Yes many on the market. But beware many have back doors that connect to foreign servers. ( can be blocked) others connect to their own servers where you are at their mercy. With forced upgrades and fees and well as compromised security. Get knowledgeable and do your research. Ring is the worst based an personal experience.

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Sample, this is absolutely true as a very close friend of mine works in a company that assembles and installs cameras... even they didn't know that the country supplying the component parts (China) was secretly collecting information. Wish I was making this up. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, either. If I hadn't heard it first hand from someone I 100% know and trust and who dealt with it directly, I would be reluctant to believe it. So, others should believe it.

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We have a Tapo camera which allows me to speak to her and hear her if she speaks to me. The camera can pivot left and right, up and down via the app on my cell phone. I use the app to see where she is if she doesn’t answer the phone. We got the camera because she falls a lot and forgets to use her life alert button.

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We use Viewclix. It's a photo frame but you can make a video call to your loved one using an online app. They don't have to do anything but look at the frame and they see your face and hear you and they can speak to you. It alerts the person with a doorbell-like sound so they know that a call is coming in. Other friends and family can be logged into the system and they can also make video calls to the loved one. However, the loved one can't call you, and the frame has to be placed somewhere that the person sits regularly. We placed Mom's on a coffee table that is next to her lift chair in her living room in her assisted care dementia apartment. This video frame was created specifically for dementia and alzheimer's patients.

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So far, I have 2 of these at my mom's place....one in the living room (so I can swivel it to see from her living room, through her bedroom doorway, into the dining room and down the hall to the kitchen), and one in her bedroom where I can see if she has fallen next to her bed.

The next one I want to install just outside of her bathroom, and have her leave the door open when she showers. The shower would be behind a half wall to the right and she wouldn't really be visible, but I could tell if she was in there at least.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095XD17K5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

They allow you to pan, tilt and zoom, as well as have two way conversation. I live about 3 hours from her.

I also find it handy to see if she is in her chair before I call her, so I don't startle her where she might fall on the way to get the phone.

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Marcia22: Per Google, some home video cameras download to a phone.

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Yes. WYZE is the brand. I ordered from Amazon for $35. It did exactly what I wanted. It needs wifi and hooks up to your phone. It was wonderful and not expensive.

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my late husband, who had Alzheimer's, destroyed ours. would he be OK wit it?

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Cams are great for this! My mom has mild dementia and sometimes her balance isn't great, so I have a Wyze V3 cam so that I can see her in her living room and dining room area. On that cam, I can even see her TV so that when she calls me because she can't figure out why her remote or TV aren't working, I can check the TV pic with the cam and usually tell her what she's doing wrong, lol.

I have another Wyze cam in the kitchen so I can see if she left something on the stove. (I also have a device that her stove plugs into that cuts the stove's power if it hears a smoke alarm! It's happened more than once.)

I have a third Zmodo cam in her bedroom. I do like the fact that the Zmodo allows me to fast forward through the video recording.

All of the cams I have installed give you the ability to use an inserted USB mini card so that it stores its own video for playback. You can do this from your mobile phone at your house.
You will need to have wifi at your dad's house. These units need an outlet to plug in to, but they don't have any other wires, as they work over wifi.
I don't think you will ever regret installing cameras. Go for it.

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This is a super great option. We have had to use it with my MIL. She won't, as in refuses to, wear a fall alert. She is also hard of hearing. We use net vue. Both of you will need internet for this.

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My mom, who has Alzheimer's, lives with me. I got a Nooie because I need to keep an eye and ear out for her when I'm not with her. Best thing I ever did. Highly recommend.

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Mom was in an assisted living facility with her own room 3 hours away. I had a camera in her room that also has 2 way audio. She did have a cell phone but often forgot to put it on its charger. It was a Jethro cell phone (you can only order them online from the Jethro company $80) Great little phone easy for elderly and only $10 monthly for talk and text. The best camera we found was made by FEIT and runs off WIFI. We got it at Menards for less than $40. No monthly charge to access video and easy to set up and use with your smart phone with their app. You did have to put in a micro card in order to do the playbacks and record, that was about $9 at Walmart. This camera swivels and has a remote control you can scan, zoom, pan around the room or let the camera follow movement automatically. It also has night vision and you can take screenshots. I was so glad it was in her room the night she gashed her forearm. I saw her, and talked to her through the camera and then called the facility nurse to send her down to Moms room immediately. They called the EMT when they could not stop the bleeding and eventually she took a trip to the ER for 9 stitches. This all happened at 2am. If I hadn't seen her on the camera she would have bled till someone came to get her for breakfast around 7:30 am because she thought she could stop the bleeding herself. She had also fell twice and I called for assistance for her as she would never press the life alert around her neck! So those were no good for her. She thought that was for life threatening events. I had the camera on the end table at first, but Mom kept messing with it and unplugging it because she didn't know what it was and it has tiny lights that flash. I ended up putting it on top of the kitchen cabinet in the living room so she would not bother with it. I did have to let the facility know it was in the room recording, but they were okay with it. Not all facilities allow them for some reason. But, I was also please to see how often someone came and talked to Mom, that they spoke respectfully to her, how often they cleaned the room and did her laundry and who visited Mom for therapy and other services. Putting a camera in her room did not invade her privacy as it did not see into the bedroom or the bathroom, it just caught the doorways, so I could tell when she went in and out of those rooms. I continually reminded her the camera was there and she was okay with it and we spoke through the camera audio when necessary. Having the camera available and being able to see Mom, if she was in her room,reassured me that she was okay, at least for that moment especially when I could not be there myself. Yes, use cameras where ever you need them to be sure your loved one is safe. But, put them where they are safe from curious hands. Looks like there are a lot of them out there to chose from.

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I would wonder what goes on that the facility would not allow the camera. I would be uncomfortable with that place.

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When my BIL lived in his apartment alone we put 2 RING cameras in his place. One in the kitchen/living room and one in his bedroom. He has dementia and we needed to keep an eye on him. It got to where we were doing everything for him like telling him when to eat, take his pills, and turn on air/heat.

He had these cameras in his apartment for about a year. With RING cameras you can talk over them because he would leave his phone off hook. And when he was fixing his food we could see what he was eating or drinking. He only used the microwave.

Prayer

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Okay. Sounds like I need to check into the ring cameras. My dad is forgetting to eat and other stuff too. I wanted to get something last year. It never happened. I need to get them very soon!

Thank you!

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Looking for video cameras to see how my dad is doing when I can't reach him by phone. Has anyone done this?

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